Rest in peace Zaeed
I just wanted to use this email to express my condolences to the family of actor Robin Sachs who died recently. Although he is best known to most people for his appearances in Buffy he also did voice work for a couple of very well-known games, including Dragon Age: Origins and the Mass Effect series, where he portrayed Zaeed Massani. Zaeed was in my opinion one of the more interesting party members in Mass Effect 2 and a lot of that appeal was down to the voice behind the character. RIP Mr Sachs.ste_the_legend (PSN ID)

I have just read the sad news of Robin Sachs dying at 61, the voice of Zaeed Massani of Mass Effect 2 and an actor who played several small roles in Babylon 5. He has a list of other video games he voiced characters from including Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic.

Speaking of TV, I am really enjoying Ripper Street on BBC1, half expecting John Marston to walk down the street talking about putting holes in hillbilly heads. Full of horse carriages, police brutality, vigilantes and whore houses. Still awaiting a similar game, a more urbanised version of Red Dead Redemption. Whether you play good or bad could determine which parts of Victorian London would welcome or oppose you.Alistair Cartwright
PS: Sheriff Pete from The Sheriffs are Coming could easily play Fatman from Metal Gear Solid 2, if only he did his job on rollerskates. He already has the build, no hair and a coat up to his mouth.

Close escape
I think that I could be the most relieved man in gaming at the moment as I threatened to eat my shorts had Ni No Kuni not reached the number one spot. Trust me when I say that with the amount of gaming I’ve done of late ‘sitting’ in one go that’s not a pleasant thought! Although as you point out January sales for games are generally lower, hence new releases have a far better chance of getting to number one.

The fact that Ni No Kuni hit the sweet spot for both individual and all format charts despite being a PlayStation 3 exclusive speaks volumes. Factor in a non-existent marketing campaign as far as commercial advertising goes and that’s one heck of an achievement. It’ll be interesting to see sales of the game post release, I suspect an initial drop off due mainly to stock but as that is replenished and prices lowered I think it’ll stay in the charts for a little while yet.Sam

Game over, man
Just finished watching the livestream of Aliens: Colonial Marines and as someone who has been anticipating this title for a while all I can say is I’m bitterly disappointed. Generic corridor shooter with dated graphics, just cancelled my pre-order and may as well go pick up Aliens Vs. Predator for a fifth of the price. Even when watching the multiplayer all I could think was dear oh dear… average reviews beckon 6/10s at best…soldatino (gamertag)

There’s no escape
It’s looking increasingly likely that I’m going to make the jump to PC gaming within the next year or so, with the Wii U needing patches to make the hardware work properly there is no chance of me taking a risk on it regardless of Bayonetta 2.

I’ve found gaming on PlayStation 3 to be a frustrating experience at best, the incompetence surrounding The Last Guardian has been staggering and I’ve got to the point where I just don’t care what Sony does next gen. (I’ve never cared about what Microsoft will do.)

I also think everyone who’s written in to say how much they’re looking forward to the new consoles from Sony/Microsoft are in for a shock when they see how much the games retail for, ‘cos let me tell you it won’t be £40.

If I’m going to be forced to get broadband installed to be able to continue playing video games it will be on my own terms and it certainly won’t be on consoles. I’ve started to wonder if the current situation of games needing patches to work properly is a deliberate ploy to force gamers to connect to the Internet.

I’d be interested to know if Zenimax/Bethesda or any other publisher/developers who are known for releasing unfinished, broken games that need patch after patch, have shares or are silent partners in Internet service providers around the world.

When you start to think about it it’s not that farfetched, I’d imagine gamers are far more likely to 3go for the premium high speed option, which obviously means higher monthly revenue per customer.

I’m very reluctant to have Internet connection at home but I did toy with the idea back in 2011 when the situation with Skyrim became apparent, also the thought of playing Dark Souls online was most tempting but the Luddite side of me won out.mitchell
PS: RE: The Blurb, it’s nice to see games on TV but the ‘zany’ humour makes it very hard to watch, the Pikmin 3 preview was actually painful to see. I do like the pretty young lady in the studio though, even if it’s obvious she’s reading a teleprompter and hasn’t actually played a video game in her life.

GC: You’re switching to the PC to avoid patches?!

Relatively pretty
RE: Billy Bunter and the PC version of NiGHTS Into Dreams. As GC have commented, the PC version is essentially the same as the PlayStation 2 remake from a few years back. There are two main modes offered: the Saturn original (complete with crusty, square graphics) and the reimagined version (which is the PlayStation 2 remake). Generally speaking, I still find the game delightfully charming and would heartily recommend it if you’ve never played the original.

Whether it’s genuinely good value is probably another matter though. As you can see, Sega haven’t actually put anything new into this version (as far as I’m aware) and although the newer game mode looks undoubtedly prettier than the original, it’s still based on a previous generation console, complete with a 30 frames per second cap. I certainly think this is a shame when you consider how pretty a current gen version of NiGHTS could actually look (and how smoothly it could run).Adam D

Mood breaker
The last week or so I have been playing both Dishonored (sic) and Asura’s Wrath. I found Dishonored improves with time as I became accustomed to different load outs and ideas. I wanted to write a quick example of why this game might appeal to fellow GCers.

After finishing it, I found myself replaying some missions and trying to complete them differently. One mission (no real spoilers) asks you to assassinate a high level target. Originally, I followed the stealth route, sneaking around the outside of the building, using pipes and windows to get to the target room. There you have the choice to poison the target’s glass (who you can hear conversing in the adjacent room) and so I did. I then snuck back out of the same window, watched the target drink from the poisoned glass and no guards had even known there was an intruder.

The second time I played it I went through the building. This led to a lot more killing guards and obviously, an increased alertness. I ended up getting to the target room too late (they had already finished their conversation and were just entering the room at the same time as I did from a different door.) Well, a bit of shouting, some gunshots and a lot of blinking later and I had killed around 20-odd more people than in my original play through but the mission was still accomplished.

Two very different experiences but an example of how the developer sets the scene and the player decides how to accomplish the objectives. I do have some complaints though. Why do they reveal with a message very early in the game that killing = more rats and a dark ending. What was achieved by this? Surely revealing this at the end would have a more emotional impact on the player when they realise the consequences of their actions?

Also, when replaying missions after completing the game, I only have the abilities I had at that time. There is no New Game+ and so I cannot experiment with my powers I gained over ten hours or so of playing. A missed opportunity I think.

Can I also ask yourselves, commenters in the comments section or indeed any GCer who can write in, is there a way of turning off Trophy notifications on the PlayStation 3? Playing Asura’s Wrath, my mouth agape as I watch Asura break a galaxy-sized enemy by punching his finger. Was slightly sullied by a ‘ping’ sound and notification that I had ‘achieved’ a Trophy.

It was also off-putting in Dishonored when playing major missions and these messages keep popping up. I have nothing against Trophies or people who chase them but the option to remove the notifications would be nice.Angry_Cadaver (PSN ID)

GC: You can turn off the notifications in the settings menu but this also turns off all other system messages as well. Although if there is a way around this we’d certainly like to hear it because we hate those pop-ups too.

Post-mortem
Aside from the occasional burst (more often when a game first comes out) we don’t spend much time on here discussing specific games in detail. It’s a shame because games such as Journey and Spec Ops would generate some great discussions, especially with GC’s more level-headed readers. Themes of films get discussed by their fans all the time yet games not so much (unless you want to venture on YouTube’s comments…)

Maybe you could run an extra section to discuss the different themes and meaning behind games. It wouldn’t be fair to take over the Hot Topic with them as it would exclude people yet to play these specific game (or wanting to avoid spoilers), something the weekend Hot Topics manage to avoidTy Conlon
PS: Will you be reviewing Antichamber?

GC: Our Antichamber review should be up by the time you read this. As for the specific game idea it sounds very interesting but we’re not sure how it could be presented. It may be best to just start a conversation running in the Inbox and then we’ll see how things go from there.

Credit where credit’s due
While I have little time for raging fanboy arguments, I have no issue with those that specify preferences for specific consoles, or anything else for that matter. As long as it is done articulately and not in a way that is just thoughtlessly dismissive or insulting about others preferences.

While agreeing there does sometimes seem some extra venom aimed at Nintendo I also think that at times there does seem a paranoia displayed by Nintendo loyalists which kind of fans the flames.

Established gaming culture often seems to hold Nintendo up above all their rivals, particularly implying they are somehow industry innovators with the others just waiting to copy. For example, most credit Nintendo with pioneering motion control in gaming – they did it better than anyone before them, but were not the first and you could even argue Sega’s VMU is the starting concept (followed Sony’s flawed use of the PSP and PS Vita) before Nintendo’s Wii U tablet peripheral was released.

This false Nintendo superiority is frequently put across in a rather elitist way (whether intended or not). This in turn makes many gamers feel they are being labelled as unimaginative players limited to Call Of Duty and FIFA (nothing wrong with Call Of Duty or FIFA) because they are not on the Nintendo love train. I believe this then generates a lot of the reactionary ‘Nintendo hate’ in return from those that feel judged.

Nintendo have clearly been a huge and mostly positive influence on gaming and are crucial to the future. But their contribution is no more or less important than Sega’s, Sony’s or Microsoft’s.albavar (PSN ID)

RE: Up4Banter. What on earth is your problem with Nintendo? If I’ve got to read another one of your mind-numbing essays again I think I’m going to scream, please just let it go. Put your writing skills to other use such as reviews, I take it you play plenty of games?just lilme

GC: OK, before this gets personal let’s call an end to the anti-Nintendo question. No doubt it’ll be Sony’s turn under the microscope next, once they announce the PlayStation 4 on the 20th.

I’ve had Ni No Kuni special edition since before its release date, but seeing the price for it on eBay I’ve not opened it… should I just buy the normal edition or risk opening my one?Die Super Mario

GC: That depends on how much you want a cuddly Drippy.

Congratulations to Nintendo! The Nintendo DS has just overtaken the PlayStation 2 as the best-selling game system of all time. See here.ninbend0 (Nintendo ID)

This week’s Hot Topic
Just in case you’re not tired of flexing your democratic muscles we have another, very different kind of vote to cast for this weekend’s Inbox. The annual Classic FM Hall of Fame is currently being compiled and we want to know which video game soundtracks you think should be included.

Last year Aerith’s Theme from Final Fantasy VII got as high as number 16 and Skyrim appeared at number 238, but we want to know what other video game soundtracks you think should be represented. Let us know via email what your favourite tracks are and why, and feel free to include anything as long it’s at least vaguely classical in nature (just no dubstep).

If you want to vote in the Classic FM poll at the same time then the voting page is here. Their voting finishes on February 15 but we’ll need your comments in for the Hot Topic by the end of this Friday, as usual.